That was the message the City Council sent last week during budget discussions as it focused on the North Park operations.

For the upcoming year, the department is scrapping to make up $3,000 and will either find that difference in reduced operating costs or charge more money to its baseball league groups like Kirksville Baseball/Softball Association, Katz and adult leagues.

The budget is looking to get out of the red for the first time since it was converted from an enterprise fund to a special revenue fund years ago. Since that point, the budget has carried a negative fund balance with the Council making regular contributions of about $25,000 to wipe away the long-standing debt.

So as the Council discussed its own contributions, it eyed the revenue side of the equation, instructing Parks and Recreation Director Melanie Smith to either cut expenses by $3,000 or increase revenues through discussions with KBSA and other user groups.

“Every year the expenses are going up, gas is going up. At some point, we have to find a way to cut our costs or find new revenue,” Smith said.

Possible solutions could include cutting the number of games each team is promised to reducing the levels umpires are provided.

Or KBSA could be left to increase the charges it levies on its about 600 youth members.

“We’re discussing a wide array of concepts,” Smith said.

KBSA President Dallas Titus expressed disappointment that the city was viewing the park and its programs strictly from an accountant’s perspective.

“It’s frustrating,” he said.

For the 2013 budget, the department is projecting about $81,000 in revenue, most of it from the activity fees it charges to entities like KBSA, Katz and the adult leagues. The budget calls for about $96,000 in expenses between operating and personnel, with about two-thirds of the total for operating.

Expenses have been increasing, varying from $105,000 in 2010 to $125,000 in 2011.

“The city can’t over-exceed its budget,” Smith said, explaining why the city wouldn’t simply pay for the additional $3,000 in projected revenue. “And there is only a certain amount of capital funds for the entire park system and they want improvements out there, another women’s restroom, which I’m all for, but it has to come from somewhere.”

If KBSA were to pass along all $3,000 in increased activity fees, each player would pay an additional $5.

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A $5 increase would hike fees up by 10 percent, but Titus said it would also represent more players that would be priced out, even with scholarships and family discounts available.

“We look at it as every kid should play no matter their economic status,” he said.

Titus said the KBSA board has discussed its options and will likely turn to fundraising or possibly restructuring its fees rates as ways to keep costs down.

“These ballparks are actually bringing people to town, more than other parks. I wish there was a way to add that into the budget,” Titus said.

Budget discussions will continue through the first public hearing and Council vote on Dec. 3 at City Hall.

The proposed budget will then be available for viewing until the final vote Dec. 17.

The North Park budget issue is not expected to hold up the city’s final budget, with Council likely to pass the budget as proposed and instruct Smith to resolve the matter in the coming months.